TDs paid more than in other parliaments

IRELAND spends more supporting its national politicians than comparative parliaments, yet six members of the Oireachtas are not satisfied with their salary.

In 2008, an average of €364,602 was spent on each deputy and senator to pay them and their support staff.

This, from an overall budget of €123 million, was more than twice that of Finland and higher than five similar parliaments surveyed by the Houses of the Oireachtas Commission.

While the Oireachtas spends less than its peers on administrative expenses, the total cost of our parliamentary system is expensive.

Out of 11 countries, Ireland was behind only Canada and Sweden in terms of its parliamentary costs as a proportion of the overall national budget.

The details were contained in the Houses of the Oireachtas annual report which was released yesterday. This included a satisfaction survey of deputies and senators.

There was a 97.4% satisfaction level with the controversial salaries and allowances, which left six of the 226 unhappy.

The Oireachtas cost €123m to run last year and has committed to taking €4m off its increased budget this year.

Introducing the report Ceann Comhairle John O’Donoghue and Seanad Cathaoirleach Pat Moylan said significant progress was made in opening up Leinster House in 2008.

This included the first family day, the piloting of a Junior Cert programme which will be rolled out fully from September, and a 20,000-person increase in visitor numbers.

“Of the new initiatives undertaken in 2008, we are particularly pleased with the success of the Education Programme, which is now a nationwide programme, involving visits by members of the Oireachtas to each school in their constituencies in order to engage directly with students and foster their understanding of, and interest in, the work of parliament and its members,” he said.

Elsewhere, the report revealed that, relative to other jurisdictions, our parliamentarians are more fond of asking questions.

In 2008 there were 456 parliamentary questions every day the Dáil was sitting, making a total of 40,875 overall. Per elected member this was twice the international average.